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Ford ThunderBirdFord thought they'd take their own stab at the nostalgia business. There are quite a few last-century icons that wear the blue oval. For a revival subject, why not use a car famous enough to have been the subject of Beach Boys songs, starred in George Lucas movies, and has been gone long enough to be missed? Why not indeed. In 2002, the Thunderbird was reborn.
Hello, I have a 84 thunderbird elan with th 5.0 in it. I was wondering how similar this is to the 5.0 h.o in the mustang? Is it worth trying to do any work to this motor to make power or would it need a swap?
The biggest difference between a regular 5.0 and an H.O is that the H.O uses the 351 firing order and I think a slightly different cam. ( anyone who knows more, please correct me if I'm wrong) The regular 5.0's are great engines and make some decent power with the right parts. Check out Jegs, Summit Racing or Ford Racing Performance parts for a good selection of pieces for these motors
Most defiently it is worth the time and effort to soup it up. A great budget move is to put the truck and 5.0 HO 87+ E7TE-PA heads on it. Also a good flat tappet performance camshaft will help.
Get ready for the 351 boss build this summer, 4v closed chamber heads, 2.25/1.75 valves, .750 lift, 12.5:1 piistons, wieand tunnel ram, nitrous, I think its gonna roar!
Thank you for the info guys! I would like to build the tbird some to make it a decent street/strip car. I wanted to ask, is it possible (or is there any need to) convert the 84's fuel injection to the MAF fuel injection from the newer mustangs or possibly even to a carb setup to get significant gains... id like to make 300+hp. On that note how much power can this specific 5.0 handle..... and would the drivetrain and rear end need upgraded to handle more power and hard launches? Sorry for the late response some unexpected things came up and threw me off my project.
Is your 84 equipped with CFI? If it is, you'll definitely want to either go to SEFI with MAF or a four barrel carburetor.
The 5.0 is capable of handling about 550 horsepower before coming apart with stock internals. Ford Racing only recommends 400 horsepower before going to an after market block.
Just about any Ford transmission is capable of handling 300 horsepower. If you have an automatic transmission you'll want to invest in the proper converter, a shift kit, and a new transmission cooler.
The 7.5" (if you don't have the 8.8")rear axle's life would be short lived at 300 horsepower. The 8.8 is capable of handling 300 horse easily. You may want to install lower gears, limited slip, and disc brake to handle the added power.
Get ready for the 351 boss build this summer, 4v closed chamber heads, 2.25/1.75 valves, .750 lift, 12.5:1 piistons, wieand tunnel ram, nitrous, I think its gonna roar!
Yes its a CFI car, I figured i would have to change to a carb il have to read up on that conversion, anyway my last question is about the shifter. From the factory its a colom shifter and id like to make it a floor shifter with a quick aftermarket setup. Is this hard to do and is there any info on how?
I'd get a hurst shifter, and almost always you will need a kit that works with the AOD (if thats what you have). You'll probably want to yank the column out of a thunderbird with floor shift, or a mustang and swap that in also. Or take apart your column and pull the shifter off.
You may look for a floor shift fox-body Thunderbird for parts.
Get ready for the 351 boss build this summer, 4v closed chamber heads, 2.25/1.75 valves, .750 lift, 12.5:1 piistons, wieand tunnel ram, nitrous, I think its gonna roar!
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84 tbird build up 
92 F150 4x4, 82 Fairmont Futura coupe, 78 Fairmont wagon project, 81 Merc Zephyr parts car, 90 F150 excab 2wd, 78 Dodge Ramcharger
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